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Deceptively Calm Sunday at 2018 US Chess Championships (with Analysis)

Posted: 5 years, 10 months ago

By IM Vignesh Panchanatham

For prior coverage, see days one, two, three, and four (with analysis of the win by BAC coach GM Zviad Izoria over world championship challenger, GM Fabiano Caruana.) 

In the fifth round, there was a huge deviation from the pattern of this US Championships. Not a single game ended in a win! In all of the other rounds so far, there have been at least two wins, so this was a significant change from the decisive chess that we viewers have been experiencing so far. Nevertheless, there is much more chess to play.

GM Onischuk and GM Robson made a draw from the opposite-colored bishop endgame arising from the Grunfeld. GM Shankland won a pawn early against GM Caruana, but was unable to overcome the World Championship challenger’s accurate defense. GM Xiong and GM So repeated moves quickly in a tame Catalan.

GM Lenderman and GM Nakamura played one of the more interesting games of the round, but even the sharp King’s Indian led to an equal endgame. In another sharp game, GM Zherebukh sacrificed two exchanges against GM Liang, but had to settle for a perpetual. GM Izoria had a slight advantage with the two bishops, but traded into an equal endgame against GM Akobian.